Chakra Armament Mode

The founding of Konoha and the emergence of the title First Hokage undoubtedly brought unimaginable changes to the Ninja World.

The first to act was the Land of Lightning, located northeast of the Land of Fire.

On land near Cloud-Thunder Gorge in the Land of Lightning, a Lightning Release ninja named A received the full support of the Land of Lightning's daimyo, gathered more than half of the ninja clans within the country, and built a ninja village called Hidden Cloud Village.

After that, the Land of Earth, the Land of Water, and the Land of Wind each demonstrated to the nations of the Ninja World what the decisiveness of a great power looked like.

The names Hidden Rock Village, Hidden Mist Village, and Hidden Sand Village were established one after another, and the villages entered construction at an astonishing pace.

The ninja clans within those countries that had originally been fighting also instinctively drew together. Under the immense pressure of the Land of Fire and the Hidden Leaf Village, they were forced into cooperation and alliances.

Though they had been forced together, as long as they successfully united, they would have the opportunity and time to continue adjusting until they truly became part of a ninja village.

Faced with the actions of the great powers, the smaller countries were utterly lost.

They possessed neither the immense foundations of the great powers nor powerful ninja capable of settling matters with a single word. None of their ninja clans respected one another, and they instead began fighting among themselves first.

Some ninja clans saw the Land of Night's governing model and felt that ninja could become daimyos too.

Becoming the head of a ninja village was good, but becoming the ruler of an entire country offered far broader horizons.

The thought naturally surfaced in their hearts: If he could become a general, then so could I.

Thus, the daimyo of a small country near the Land of Lightning was killed, and the head of a ninja clan took his place, proclaiming himself a general.

However, his rule was too brutal, his politics a complete mess, and his orders changed by the day. In the end, the entire nation revolted. The ninja clan head who had called himself general was killed, and the whole country became a land without a ruler.

Bandits, nobles, ninja clans, samurai, and all manner of riffraff gathered there. The growing chaos completely devastated the country's economic and political order.

In the end, even the Land of Lightning's daimyo could not stand watching any longer. Feeling that the people of that small country were suffering too much, he tearfully annexed it.

Just as Yayoi had predicted, the great powers watched from the sidelines and methodically sorted out the new order.

The smaller countries, meanwhile, became a carnival of madness, producing all kinds of absurd antics that no one could have imagined and showcasing the spectacular brilliance of humanity's strangest specimens.

The Land of Night, which sat alongside the great powers and watched the show, continued developing with remarkable stability amid the surging tides of the era.

Although some exiled ninja and samurai forcibly crossed the Land of Night's borders, they were swiftly suppressed by the ninja and samurai forces Yayoi dispatched before they could create any chaos.

Kakuzu had taken action, and during this operation, he acquired the heart of a Water Release ninja as a trophy and fused it into his forbidden technique, Earth Grudge Fear.

There had also been a group of exiled ninja from outside before, but they had been relatively honest and were genuinely fleeing disaster.

Under Kurobei's mediation, this group of over a hundred ninja successfully joined the Land of Night.

Although there were no ninja with Kekkei Genkai among them, some were surviving members of clans with secret techniques, which gave Yayoi quite a few pleasant surprises.

The number of ninja in the Land of Night's Military Bureau system had already exceeded one thousand.

Furthermore, the education department would begin operating soon. A group of talented children from the Land of Night would become fresh blood for the nation and be incorporated into its system.

Within the next ten years, Yayoi believed that the number of official ninja in the Land of Night could expand to at least four thousand.

Of course, the recruitment of samurai was proceeding at the same time.

Though the average strength of samurai was inferior to that of ninja, they were still a formidable force and could be considered one of the cornerstones of the Land of Night's national defense. Yayoi valued them just as highly.

For now, however, training ninja took higher priority. In this era, ninja were the mainstream, while samurai, monks, shrine maidens, and similar groups were inevitably declining.

Heavy snow blanketed the magnificent metropolis of Nightview City. Vast geothermal facilities had been installed beneath the ground, releasing scalding steam throughout the city with a low roar and bringing springlike warmth to the frigid winter.

New figures had appeared along the neatly planned roads.

They were armed personnel clad in standardized white combat uniforms and carrying swords.

A pattern of red spider lilies had been uniformly engraved onto their fitted uniforms.

Following predetermined routes, they patrolled every street and corner of Nightview City around the clock in shifts.

These people shared a single name—the members of the Security Corps.

The Security Corps was a newly established public security department in the Land of Night.

On the eastern avenue of the General's Residence stood the headquarters building of this new department. It had six floors and its own large plaza. A vast tract of land had also been assigned to the department, where a closed logistics base and training base had been constructed.

Although its personnel were ninja and samurai selected from the Military Bureau, they would no longer bear national defense duties except when necessary. Instead, they were responsible for domestic security, civil disputes, and related matters.

Due to a shortage of personnel, Yayoi decided to begin with a one-year pilot program in Nightview City, the capital.

If the results were good, it would be promoted across the country once there were sufficient personnel.

It was not only the newly established Security Forces. Yayoi was also reorganizing and restructuring several existing departments, making more detailed adjustments to improve operational efficiency.

Furthermore, to prevent conflicts of responsibility between departments, Yayoi intended to gradually draw clear boundaries wherever duties overlapped. Otherwise, given enough time, clashes between departments could easily arise.

By the time he had properly arranged this series of recent matters, it was already early March.

Starting a month earlier, Yayoi had gradually set aside his busy official duties and begun training at the private training ground in the Inner Court.

This training ground in the Inner Court was a massive site nearly five hundred meters long and wide, located behind the main residence.

It contained numerous pieces of simulated training equipment, while the materials used to construct the grounds had been specially made to better accommodate real combat.

Trees had even been planted, massive boulders placed as obstacles, and ponds dug to store water, all to make the training environment more complex.

It could be said that this training ground alone occupied one-third of the Inner Court, showing just how much effort Yayoi had put into it.

After handling official matters in the past, he would always come here to train and improve his strength.

Only during the exceptionally busy second half of the previous year had his training time abruptly decreased each month.

At that moment, Yayoi stood on the sandy ground at the center of the training field and drew a deep breath. A ferocious aura like that of a savage beast surged out from him in every direction.

Streams of visible blue energy twisted and erupted around him like vortices. They were the solidified Chakra produced by his outburst.

His black hair also floated unnaturally upward amid the Chakra currents.

The solidified Chakra condensed into a dense, flowing substance like water and clung tightly to Yayoi's sturdy body.

"Hmph!"

Yayoi let out a heavy grunt as a crushing force suddenly pressed down upon him.

That pressure did not merely weigh on his body. His bones, flesh, and blood also felt a needle-like pain and strain.

After several seconds of adjustment, the violent and chaotic aura around him gradually calmed.

The solidified Chakra he had released began condensing into a layer of Chakra Armor, like flowing azure flames that flickered around Yayoi's body like clouds and mist.

Yayoi did not hesitate. The instant he equipped that solid Chakra armor, he sprang forward like a hare released from its cage.

His figure flickered where he stood, leaving behind a blue afterimage. A streak of blue light tore through the air, and in the blink of an eye, he crossed dozens of meters and threw a straight punch.

Boom!

A hard boulder several meters tall exploded instantly, bursting outward as countless fragments smaller than fists.

A shocking crater also appeared at the point of impact.

It was the scar left when the earth could not withstand the force at the instant the boulder shattered and exploded.

Next, Yayoi came to another boulder, wrapped both arms around it, and easily lifted the massive rock weighing more than ten tons.

The scene resembled a child swinging a greatsword as large as an adult.

Thud!

The air emitted a dull boom as the boulder, larger than Yayoi himself, was launched straight into the sky.

After reaching a certain height, the boulder's upward speed slowed more and more, as though it had touched the peak of its ascent. Then it suddenly dropped, accelerating rapidly as a thin membrane of airflow formed around it and tore through the atmosphere.

Standing directly below and looking upward, Yayoi did not dodge the suddenly falling boulder. He merely calculated the timing and distance in silence.

Suddenly, he bent his knees slightly. The ground cracked, web-like fissures spreading outward. Using the earth as a springboard, he exerted force beneath his feet and propelled himself into the air like a cannonball.

Boom!

Like the previous boulder, the falling rock exploded into countless tiny fragments, kicking up a thick cloud of smoke and dust in the air.

That was not ninjutsu. Yayoi had merely used his body to shatter the falling boulder, which carried terrifying weight and force, and made it explode.

Yayoi descended and landed steadily on the ground like a soft feather, generating no impact whatsoever even as he crushed the earth beneath his feet.

One minute later, there was no longer a single intact spot in the central area of the training ground, which spanned several hundred meters in length and width.

It looked as though some colossal beast had ravaged it. The ground was full of pits and craters, tall trees had been uprooted by explosive shockwaves, and none of the massive rocks left on the grounds remained intact. Everything had suffered severe damage.

Some sections of the ground had even tilted, their cracks stretching dozens of meters away.

It was as if someone had used a powerful, high-level Earth Release ninjutsu to forcibly destroy the integrity of the ground and slice it into uneven chunks of different sizes.

However, this destruction had not been caused by ninjutsu, but by taijutsu.

And this was already the result of Yayoi restraining his strength.

Standing atop a chunk of earth that remained relatively intact and jutted half a meter above the ground, Yayoi was surrounded by blue flames that flickered like clouds and mist.

Although it looked as though flames were burning over his body, it was not Fire Release and contained no Chakra nature transformation. It was simply a layer of highly concentrated solidified Chakra, leaking out unnaturally at extreme density and imitating the shape of burning flames.

The Chakra Armor itself did not possess burning power, nor did it have the temperature of actual fire.

"It has mostly stabilized. My burst speed exceeds the speed of sound. After charging up, both my speed and destructive power can be improved further. The Chakra consumption is manageable as well. Only my muscles still sting a little. It seems I need to strengthen my body further..."

Yayoi quietly evaluated his current condition.

The technique maintaining this state had been an idea since Yayoi first encountered knowledge about Chakra. However, because completing it was too difficult, only now had he barely managed to turn it from a concept on paper into reality.

Every strike could produce the destructive power of a ninjutsu attack, while its defense was also impressive. At the very least, he could completely ignore ordinary destructive ninjutsu. Techniques like Fire Release: Great Fireball could be disregarded in this state and dispersed directly with his fists.

Kunai, shuriken, and similar weapons could not break his defenses no matter how many came at him, as long as they were not imbued with Chakra nature transformation.

"Kicho, can you imbue a ninja tool with Chakra and cut me once?"

Yayoi turned toward the edge of the training ground, where his wife Kicho stood in an elegant purple-and-white kimono. He had no idea when she had appeared there.

"Oh my, does my dear husband have some special masochistic hobby? Since my dear husband has said so..."

The young woman teased him with a smile, but her hands did not slow.

She walked to a weapon rack nearby and picked up a ninja sword. Blade-thin solidified Chakra easily wrapped around it.

This ninja sword was of higher quality than a standard issue sword, with thirty percent Chakra Metal incorporated into it. Ordinary ninja swords contained less than ten percent Chakra Metal.

Therefore, once imbued with Chakra, its sharpness would become exceptionally terrifying. Ordinary ninja tools would likely crack after only a few clashes with it.

"I'm coming, dear husband."

The moment she finished speaking, Kicho rushed toward Yayoi at incredible speed, like a butterfly dancing through the air.

The Chakra-imbued ninja sword had been sharpened to the weapon's utmost limit. She swung it forcefully at Yayoi's chest.

Unsurprisingly, even the Chakra-imbued ninja sword failed to cut through Yayoi's Chakra Armor.

Kicho was even forced several steps back by the recoil transmitted through the blade.

"Oh my, that kind of defense really is..."

Kicho's small mouth parted slightly, surprise showing in her pure white eyes.

However, whether in bed or on the battlefield, she was not someone who easily admitted defeat, even when facing her own husband.

So she tossed aside the ninja sword in her hand, and another blade fell from the sleeve of her kimono.

It was Spirit Blade: Kumokiri, its blue hilt matching her kimono perfectly.

It was a ninja tool forged entirely from exceptionally rare special Chakra Metal, unquestionably a divine weapon of the highest grade.

Kicho gripped the hilt and drew the blade.

The blade's gleam was dazzling. Merely touching the air, its edge seemed capable of cutting the air apart.

Then she drew a deep breath. Veins bulged around her eyes, and a faint rainbow hue appeared deep within her white pupils as they released an intensely pure white light.

Kicho flew toward him again like a fluttering butterfly. Her purple-and-white kimono made Yayoi feel as though he had fallen under a genjutsu.

Slice.

Kumokiri was clearly far sharper than the standard ninja sword from before, effortlessly cutting through Yayoi's Chakra Armor.

Blood sprayed from Yayoi's chest. After cutting through his Chakra Armor, the blade also sliced open the flesh on his chest.

Once the blade withdrew, white steam began rising from the wound on Yayoi's chest. In the blink of an eye, it had already fused shut.

In this state, not only had his explosive power increased, but his recovery ability had been enhanced as well.

"That's truly exaggerated, dear husband."

Kicho maintained her Byakugan. It was unclear whether she was marveling at the defensive power of Yayoi's Chakra Armor or at his bizarre hand-sign-free self-healing ability.

Either one alone would allow a ninja to be called powerful.

Kicho could not imagine the expression of despair an enemy would wear after finally breaking through Yayoi's Chakra Armor, only to witness his strange physique healing without hand signs.

And let's not forget that her husband was also one of the foremost puppet masters of the age.

Thought puppets were his trump card? No, his true trump card was taijutsu.

Thought taijutsu was his ultimate trump card? No, beyond that was Chakra Armor capable of smashing even ninjutsu apart with a single punch.

And after breaking through the Chakra Armor, what awaited them would be a body that began healing without even using medical ninjutsu.

How cruel.

"The exaggerated one is you. You suddenly came at me with Kumokiri while activating your Byakugan."

Yayoi gave his petite wife a speechless look.

Every part of Kumokiri had been forged from special Chakra Metal using lost artisan techniques. It was the crystallized effort of ancient master craftsmen.

An ordinary standard ninja sword would be cut in half the moment it touched Kumokiri.

Even more excessive was the fact that Kicho had activated her Byakugan, directly seeing through the flow of Chakra within his Chakra Armor and effortlessly locating its weak point.

If he had not taken half a step back, the bleeding from his chest would have been much worse.

It would not have been a fatal wound, but it still hurt.

"Ah, this is Kicho's love for her dear husband."

Kicho defended herself that way.

Yayoi decided that tonight, he would teach her a harsh lesson. Even if she cried and begged for mercy, he would make her roll her eyes.

Well, her eyes were white even when she did not roll them.

"By the way, dear husband, this technique of yours resembles a Tailed Beast."

Kicho put away Kumokiri, but she did not deactivate her Byakugan. Carefully observing Yayoi's Chakra Armor, she had noticed something.

"After all, it's a technique developed by imitating the Tailed Beast Cloak of a Jinchūriki. This mode activates the Chakra inside the body to the extreme before releasing it outward as a covering. It can greatly enhance defense and destructive power, while taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu are all comprehensively amplified."

Yayoi nodded.

The inspiration for this Chakra Armor had not come from the Fourth Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode, but from Uzumaki Naruto's eruption of Nine-Tails Chakra and the Tailed Beast Cloak it formed.

Thinking carefully, much of the Active Chakra he extracted resembled Tailed Beasts.

Even Irori, whom he had created, possessed life characteristics approaching those of Chakra lifeforms like Tailed Beasts.

It was only natural that Kicho, with her Byakugan, could see that.

"A very good idea, but it must place a great burden on the body. And releasing Chakra on such a large scale must consume a great deal of it as well."

Kicho's assessment was precise.

Ordinary ninja would die if they wore Chakra this dense.

Only a ninja with a powerful body like Yayoi could control it.

"The strain wasn't much of a problem. If I improved my physique a little more, I could wield this technique perfectly. As for chakra consumption—no, this technique is the thing best suited to me. My chakra dissipated extremely slowly. Even when released, it could remain for a long time."

Yayoi said this.

At Yayoi's reminder, Kicho immediately recalled how he had once released balls of chakra to remotely control puppets.

Generally speaking, once chakra was released, it quickly dissipated into the air.

To use Yayoi's Chakra Armor, one needed to continuously release high-density chakra.

That inevitably required an enormous amount of chakra to sustain the expenditure.

For example, the Lightning Release Chakra Mode passed down in the Land of Lightning created lightning-nature chakra and formed it into lightning armor worn over the body.

It required chakra to be constantly released in order to keep the lightning armor functioning.

Only those with chakra reserves approaching the Tailed Beasts, or at the level of the Tailed Beasts themselves, could use such a Lightning Release mode freely.

A ninja from the Land of Lightning named A was a supreme expert in this field, possessing chakra reserves on the level of a Tailed Beast.

It was said that his Lightning Release Chakra Mode could send Tailed Beasts flying with a punch and even beat them flat in close combat.

But Yayoi was different. His chakra dissipated very slowly. Once the armor formed, it could be maintained for a long time without constantly releasing chakra to keep the Chakra Armor running.

In other words, as long as the released chakra was not canceled out by an enemy's attacks, it could be preserved for a long time without any additional loss.

So even without Tailed Beast-level chakra, Yayoi could maintain this state for a long time.

Kicho quickly understood this.

Just as Yayoi had said, this technique was the move most suited to him.

Compared to the Lightning Release Chakra Mode of the Land of Lightning, it was more akin to a Jinchūriki's Tailed Beast Cloak.

Yet these two types of Chakra Armor ultimately led to the same result: using high-density chakra to turn one's body into a dangerous weapon capable of both offense and defense.

"Actually, this technique still has room for further development. That is, infusing it with chakra nature transformation to increase the technique's destructive power."

Yayoi answered.

Like the Rasengan, Yayoi's technique was a foundational technique that could be extended further.

The high-density chakra enveloping his body was unlike Lightning Release Chakra Mode in that it contained no chakra nature transformation.

If nature transformation were infused on that basis... it would be no different from wearing Wind Release: Rasenshuriken while fighting.

At that point, both the technique's power and difficulty would surpass Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

But for the time being, Yayoi did not dare attempt nature transformation.

The basic technique was already more powerful than the Rasengan. If nature transformation were added, its power would naturally exceed Wind Release: Rasenshuriken as well.

And Wind Release: Rasenshuriken was an extremely dangerous ninjutsu.

If he wore a ninjutsu even more powerful than Wind Release: Rasenshuriken on his body, not only would it fail to kill the enemy, it would cripple him first.

"Uh... that already sounds incredibly dangerous."

Just imagining infusing nature transformation into such high-density Chakra Armor made Kicho shudder. A drop of cold sweat slid down her smooth forehead.

Chakra infusion itself was already an advanced chakra control technique, something only ninjas of a certain level could accomplish. Adding nature transformation on top of that would increase both the difficulty and risk exponentially.

"I'm afraid I'll have to wait until my body and chakra undergo another qualitative transformation before I can try infusing nature transformation."

After all, Wind Release: Rasenshuriken was held in the hand, while his technique was worn over his body at all times. Their difficulty and risk levels were simply not on the same level.

"Does this technique have a name now?"

Kicho asked curiously.

Naming one's own original technique was also one of a ninja's pleasures.

Yayoi stroked his chin and thought for a moment. Then he raised his head to look at the sky, his gaze growing deep.

"This technique... will be called Chakra Armament Mode. One day, this technique will make my name known throughout the Ninja World."

Yayoi gave his completed original ninjutsu an official name and looked forward to the day it would become famous throughout the Ninja World.

Though his reputation had already spread through many neighboring countries, he wanted more than that.

His modest goal of becoming known throughout the Ninja World was to reach the same level as Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.